The Lost Child
by ladybugsmomma
Summary: Joan is worried for Annie, but is there more behind her relationship with the young woman? This is definitely OOC and slightly AU. One-Shot


**Disclaimer: I don't own Covert Affairs, nor its characters.**

**AN: This is my first Covert Affairs fic. I know it's OOC, but that's how it had to go. I hope you guys like it!  
**

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The Lost Child

In the hospital, the sound is quiet, especially on the floor where Annie Walker is being observed. Auggie Anderson is asleep in the chair in the corner of the room. Annie is in a coma and seems to be dreaming.

Joan Campbell walks into the room and smiles at Auggie and then looks at Annie with concern on her face. She didn't want to believe it when Auggie called to say that Annie had been shot. She wanted to kill the person that was responsible for doing this to her. She wanted so much to lean over and whisper the truth into Annie's ear, but she couldn't. That secret was hers and Arthurs to keep. They had agreed to keep the secret of Annie's true identity as the young woman had seemed happy with her life. Joan felt that pain in her heart again.

"Annie," she whispered, "You need to wake up. You need to get up so that we can know who is responsible for putting you here. Be strong, Sweetheart."

Joan kissed her forehead gently and moved to leave. She saw that Auggie was in an awkward position. She didn't want to wake him, but she didn't want him in pain when he woke up either. She went out into the hallway and found a nurse.

"Excuse me, is there any way I can get an extra pillow?" Joan asked.

"Sure, give me one second," the nurse replied and went into a storage room, "Here you go."

Joan accepted the pillow and walked back into Annie's room. She lifted Auggie's head gently and put the pillow between his head and the wall. Auggie murmured and sighed as he settled back into sleep. Joan smiled and moved some of his hair out of his face. She turned and looked at Annie's bed one last time before leaving the hospital.

* * *

She arrived at Langley an hour later after stopping off at home to get a change of clothes and another item. She walked into Arthur's office with tears in her eyes. Arthur looked up and saw his wife. He got up and walked around his desk and wrapped his arms around his wife.

"What's wrong, Joan?" Arthur asked.

"I don't know if I can do this," Joan said. Arthur sighed as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"I know it's hard, it's hard for me, too," Arthur said.

"I just want to know what's going to happen to her," Joan said as the tears fell.

"I know, honey," Arthur said, "But you can't count her out. Annie is strong, like her mother."

Joan nodded and pulled out of his embrace slightly. He noticed that she had a baby book in her hands. He looks at her.

"I wanted to remember," Joan said. Arthur nodded as they moved to sit down.

Joan opened the book to the first page to show a much younger version of herself, just starting to show. She flipped the page to an ultrasound of the baby. She studied the developing fetus in the still picture. She looked at the other page to show a picture of her almost ready to give birth and photos of her baby shower. Flipping the page, she looked at the picture of her holding a little pink bundle in her arms, a much younger Arthur at her side. On the opposite side, the page held a copy of the birth certificate of the child. Her name was Sarah Nicole Campbell. Joan flipped through the book some more showing the child growing until they stopped at six months, the time that little Sarah was kidnapped.

"I can't help, but think that it was my fault," Joan said.

"No, honey, it wasn't. It was the bastard who took her from us. There wasn't anything you could've done," Arthur told her.

"If we could've found her sooner, then we would've been able to watch her grow up into the woman she is now," Joan said pausing slightly, "I can't lose her Arthur. Not so soon after I found her."

"You're not going to lose her. Annie is going to be fine," Arthur said.

Joan nodded her head. She remembered the day when Sarah was taken.

Joan watched her six month old sleep in her carrier. They were at the grocery store shopping for dinner supplies. Joan turned to pick up something off the bottom shelf and when she turned back, Sarah was gone. She searched the store, frantic. She called the cops and they questioned her and other patrons, but they received no leads and not too long after the search had gone cold. Joan and Arthur were devastated. They both threw themselves into their work, rarely saying a word to one another.

Twenty-five years later, Annie Walker walked into their lives. Joan couldn't help but picture Sarah, all grown-up. As she watched Annie, day after day, she began to see some similarities. She put them off at first as she thought it was because she wanted Annie to be Sarah. After some time, the thought wouldn't quit nagging her. She researched Annie's background and found that she had been adopted by the Walkers at seven months old. A picture of Annie had come up on the monitor and Joan gasped as she saw Sarah looking back. She took her proof to Arthur who thought she was crazy at first, but as she told him everything she saw, he came to believe her. She ran her DNA against Annie's and it was a match. Annie was Sarah. She and Arthur discussed what their options were. They could tell her and possibly she believed them, but might resent them. They could keep it to themselves and hold on to their pain. They decided that they would keep it to themselves until they both felt it was okay to tell Annie.

When Joan first heard that Annie had been shot, her heart sunk. All she could think was that she and Arthur wouldn't get the chance to tell her the truth.

"Arthur, we should tell her," Joan said.

"Honey, we both agreed that it would be better if she didn't know," Arthur said.

"I know, but I can't take it anymore. What if this was a sign that we are supposed to tell her?" Joan said.

"Let's see what happens in the next few days and then we'll decide, okay?" Arthur asked.

Joan nodded.

* * *

They found out that it was Lena who shot Annie. Joan fought Lena hard at the hospital after she caught her trying to kill Annie again, but Lena got away. Annie recovered and went home. Joan walked up to the guesthouse that Annie stayed in. She knocked on the door. Annie opened it and moved to let her step in. Joan looked around and couldn't help but notice the suitcase.

"Annie, there is something I need to tell you and you may not believe me, but at least I got the chance to tell you," Joan said.

"Okay, what is it?" Annie said. Joan sighed as she was a little at a loss as to where to start.

"Twenty-seven years ago, I gave birth to a baby girl. At six months old, she was kidnapped. The police never found her," Joan said, "Annie, you were adopted by your parents when you were seven months old, just a month after Sarah went missing."

"What are you trying to say?" Annie asked, "That I'm your long-lost daughter?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but it's true," Joan said.

She handed Annie the DNA results and the pictures. Annie looked at them and then back at Joan.

"How is this possible?" Annie asked.

"What I can figure is that whoever kidnapped you as a baby sold you to the Walkers," Joan said.

"Why would they do this?" Annie asked, "My parents were good people. Why buy a baby?"

"I don't know, Annie. I really don't, but whatever you decide to do with this information, just know that I'll support it," Joan said, she noticed the suitcase again, "Are you going somewhere?"

Annie nodded as she knew where this was going. She looked at her suitcase and back to Joan.

"You know if you go to Russia and get arrested the CIA can't do anything to help you, don't you?" Joan asked, "I won't be able to help you."

"What do you mean?" Annie asked.

"I mean, that if you get captured in Russia, I can't pull any strings or anything like that to get you out," Joan said, "The CIA won't allow me to."

"I don't care," Annie said, "I have to go."

"I know," Joan said, "I just wanted you to know because I know that once your mind is made up, there is no stopping you. All I ask is that you be careful and come back safe."

Annie stepped up and hugged Joan. Joan returned the hug as tears came to her eyes. She nodded and left Annie to finish packing. She just hopes that she had made the right decision and that Annie was making the right one of her own.

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**The End**

**AN: I hope you liked it! Please let me know what you thought!-LBM  
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